Macklemore has been expressing his political point of view through music for years – the song “Same Love” has become an anthem for the LGBTQA+ community, in his “Trump’s Over Freestyle” the rapper criticizes the former US President and the track “White Privilege” is about police violence in the USA.
Neither in his art nor in reality does the musician allow himself to be silenced. Now Macklemore spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the pro-Palestine rally in Washington on November 4th.
“First and foremost, it’s wonderful to watch this today,” the rapper, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, begins his spontaneous speech. “I didn’t expect to be in front of a microphone. There are thousands of people here who are more qualified to speak about the question of a free Palestine than I am,” Macklemore initially appears modest, but then expresses his clear point of view.
“But I will say this: They told me to be quiet. They told me to research, to back off, it was too complex to say anything, right? Over the past three weeks I have gone back and researched… I am a learner. I don’t know enough. But I know that this is genocide,” said the musician at the demonstration.
Macklemore’s pro-Palestine speech:
Most recently, Macklemore joined several other celebrities – including Dua Lipa, Michael Stipe, Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, Cate Blanchett and Joaquin Phoenix – who penned an open letter to Joe Biden. In it, under the name “Artists4Ceasefire,” they called on the government to “honor all lives in the Holy Land and immediately demand and facilitate a ceasefire – an end to the bombing of the Gaza Strip and the safe release of the hostages.”